Live Review

The Xcerts – The Garage, London

• 6th Mar 2011

So the Garage, love it or hate it it’s one of London’s best known rock venues, and a fitting setting for this date on the Rocksound tour featuring The Xcerts, Japanese Voyeurs and Dinosaur Pile up. Not a complete sell out, the floors pretty full. Well, it gets pretty full after the Xcerts anyway…

On record, with tracks like ‘Slackerpop’ these guys seem exciting, a breath of fresh air in an otherwise dingy, dull & saturated alternative scene. But live, these guys didn’t live up to the glimmer of hope demonstrated on the record. The audience, with the exception of those few clustered at the front turning their backs and paying more attention to the bar, the merch stand and each other.

The Xcerts for me demonstrate an all too bitter reality; performers and groups in this scene are shovelled in when they’re not ready & forced in front of audiences that couldn’t care less.

With such promise on record, it seems a crime that the live show was so lacklustre. Every build up never quite hit the mark and every drop lacked sincerity. Honestly, I hope this was an off night, it’s just a shame that this ‘off night’ happened here.

I’ll end this on a high note… I’d actually fully recommend the album, currently available on Spotify & iTunes amongst others. I’d also say, I’d be willing to give these guys another chance live. For all the great support slots they’ve lined up and the hype they’ve build surely this can’t be it? If it is, it’s a shame, and hype can only carry a band like this so far…